Providence riders dismayed at leaping cost of JUMP bike rentals
By Harry August / Special to The Journal
A 30-minute ride now costs $9, compared with $2 before. An hour-long ride now costs more than four times as much: $18 instead of $4.10. But under the new system, rides shorter than six minutes and 40 seconds will be cheaper than before.
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PROVIDENCE — Last week, $2 — the cost of a bus fare in Rhode Island — could buy 30 minutes of riding time on Providence’s JUMP electrified bike share.
Now, after the Uber-owned company changed the pricing model on Monday, $2 buys only six minutes and 40 seconds.
A JUMP bike now costs 30 cents per minute, replacing the original model of $2 for the first half hour and seven cents for each additional minute. The company has also “temporarily paused” the monthly subscription service, which cost $20 a month for an hour of free riding each day, according to a statement from an Uber spokesman.
A 30-minute ride now costs $9, compared with $2 before. An hour-long ride now costs more than four times as much: $18 instead of $4.10. Under the new system, rides shorter than six minutes and 40 seconds will be cheaper than before.
Frequent JUMP riders and the City of Providence quickly criticized the new fee structure.
“We have let JUMP know that we are disappointed in this fee increase,” wrote Providence spokesman Ben Smith. “City staff has expressed these concerns directly to JUMP and will advocate that they reevaluate these price changes.” Smith said the city expects the monthly plan to be back soon while JUMP addresses “back-end software challenges.”
“It makes me feel like the whole system is a bait-and-switch,” said James Baumgartner, 45, a JUMP rider who runs the Car Free in PVD blog and Twitter account. “Now it’s definitely not a commuting option. It’s like an occasional toy that people can have.”
“We want to build a viable operation in Providence that allows us to serve our riders for years to come,” said Uber spokesman Harry Hartfield in a written statement. “To support that we have introduced new pricing so we can continue to deliver environmentally efficient clean and reliable bikes with a sustainable business model.”
The vice chairwoman of the Rhode Island Bike Coalition, Kathleen Gannon, said the new rates are too expensive for many people who ride JUMP bikes. “A price increase, especially a substantial one like this, is going to undercut the program,” Gannon said. Beyond just short trips, she said, people use JUMP bikes for riding recreationally on the state’s bike paths, commuting to work, and carrying home groceries. “It’s an unfortunate change, for sure.”
The “Boost Plan” for low-income users remains at $5 for the first 12 months and $5 per month after that for an hour of free riding a day. To make the service accessible to users without credit or debit cards, JUMP riders can use an Uber Cash gift card, available at local stores, instead.
Users without smartphones, however, can rent the current model of JUMP bikes only by calling JUMP customer support to unlock it, said Smith. This call-to-unlock option is not publicly advertised by JUMP or Uber, and the city has asked JUMP to develop “tap cards” for users without a working smartphone.
JUMP recently raised prices to similar levels in cities such as Los Angeles, Denver and Washington a month after Uber’s May 10 initial public offering went down as the biggest first-day dollar loss in U.S. market history. In the first quarter of 2019, the company reported losses of over a billion dollars.
Bike-share rates in Providence are now among the highest in the JUMP bike-share network, matching Los Angeles and Santa Monica at 30 cents per minute. Other cities, such as Washington and Denver, cost 25 cents per minute. Some, like Sacramento, still cost 7 cents per minute after 15 minutes.
Providence and JUMP launched the bike share in September 2018 with 400 bikes, and expanded the service on April 1, increasing the number of available bikes to 1,100 and broadening the service area to include places like Roger Williams Park and Rhode Island College.
According to JUMP’s 2017 contract with Providence, obtained via public records request, Uber has “sole discretion” to change the user fees, and only has to solicit input from the city if it wishes to change the cost of the low-income “Boost” plan.
Nic Canning, 33, a monthly JUMP subscriber who lives in Federal Hill, said he and his partner have been loving the electric bikes since they launched, but they aren’t sure if they’ll keep using them if the monthly plan ends. He calculated that a daily commute from Federal Hill to the State House would multiply from $20 a month to around $120. At that price, Canning said, “I’m happy to go back to a regular bike.”